Tuesday, April 04, 2006

KFC Retirement Watch

I said I wouldn’t write anymore about Kerry Collins, but I can’t help myself. In an article that is astonishing if it’s accurate (and you know we don’t assume accuracy in the sports media around here), one NFL beat writer suggests that Collins is contemplating retirement because he “doesn't have the burning desire to play football the way he once might have.”

Suddenly, a lot of things make sense. In fact, I think Collins might have retired during the 3rd quarter of the Dolphins game last year.

To date, only one team, the Baltimore Ravens, has expressed serious interest in Collins. According to this article, however, the Ravens haven’t offered enough money to “make it worth his while.”

Why do I care? Because if any of this is true, then our Collins problem ran deeper than we ever could have imagined. If Kerry Collins retires because he can’t be bothered to beat Kyle Boller for a starting gig and pick up several hundred thousand dollars in the process, then last year will come into even greater focus.

The Kerry Collins retirement watch starts now—and if he retires, I’m going to be really pissed, because much of last year will be revealed as a competitive hoax, one that will impact us this year because Tui and Walter were denied snaps and experience by someone who had already lost his appetite for the game.

Norv's decision to yank Tui was no doubt predicated on the notion that Collins was ready to jump back in and fight...

As for Walter, I forget exactly when he got injured, but if Collins was indeed more in this for the money than the game, then I think it's a crime that Walter didn't get more work, whether it be in practice, the preseason or the regular season.

Anyhow, I won't get too worked up about it right now, but I'm going to remain on KFC retirement watch.

what a complete JACKASS this guy is! i mean the way he expresses himself is, is.....ARGHHHH!

one quote: Aaron Brooks: Many observers believe that the Raiders will draft Vince Young, and that Brooks will mentor (snicker) the young passer, imparting his vast wealth of football knowledge (snort) and helping Young develop into a great decision maker ... (burst into tearful laughter).

another one: The Raiders need to add depth on the offensive line and at linebacker. One mock draft has the team selecting UTEP linebacker Thomas Howard in the second round. Howard is very quick and fast but doesn't have a natural position and has a rep for making mental mistakes. Sounds like a Raiders defender to me.

COME ON FOX - WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO FAIR AND BALANCED REPORTING? i mean give me a complete break people!

i tried to locate this phucker's e-mail address to blast him but can't find it!

if he was in front of me i'd put my fist in his face. i can't believe FOX would publish this guy's CRAP!

I don't know if I'll be watching for KFC to retire. Just as long as we don't have to watch him play Qb for the Raiders ever again. Good points though RT, about holding back two young Qb's for KFC, who had seemingly thrown in the towel on his career. Still, I expect KFC to surface somewhere as a backup.

FYI, the football outsiders are east coast guys. Founder is a Pats fan. As a lifelong Raider fan now living in Boston for many years, I can tell you all that 80% of fans out here hate the team, 10% like the team as their second choice behind the hometown and 10% don't care b/c we have been terrible 3 yrs straight after 3 yrs straight of excruciating losses.

As a Raider fan I assume the majority despise us. Only recently have we fallen back in to the irrelevant camp - Sad. Like you all, I can't stand these articles, but what can we really say? We have had a bad team and those teams get laughed at. From an outsider's perspective look at the only additions we have made to our team after 3 bad years: Art Shell (widely considered our last option), Tom Walsh (huge question mark who is such a bad choice on the face that I'm hoping its brilliant) and Aaron Brooks (perceived wash up).

In sum, I remain ever hopeful, but until we win, we have to take everything that's written about us - and actually deservedly so. Good news is how sweet it will be when we shock the world.

One question for you guys. What is consensus on what happened last year with Collins and Tui? Did Norv force Collins back in after the debacle in the Meadowlands, knowing he was out of a job anyway? Such a ridiculous serious of events that I have no clue on who called the shots.

Also, Walter nursed the groin tear since late in training camp and for some reason never got surgery til end of season. Tui stinks in my opinion. Doesn't take more than a few quarters of action for me to see that. Interested in your takes on him.

Scorpio, I appreciate your sentiment, but I believe that RaiderNews.com does us a great service in providing links to any and all news and opinions about the Raiders.

Thanks to RaiderNews, you have alerted all of us yet another new Raiders hater on the block. Thanks to you, I now have a new candidate for News You Can't Use. We need to be aware of these folks, so that we can knock heads and neutralize.

"In 2006 and beyond, Oakland should think a bit more closely about their late-round selections and their future roles on the team. Tom Brady was taken in the 6th round of the 2000 Draft."

Here is my riposte, for your entertainment:

Dear Anthony,

You did not pull out the "Tom Brady was picked in the 6th round" example to slam the Raiders' drafts!

Er...um...Brady went at pick #199...which, er...um...means that every team in the NFL collectively made the mistake of not drafting Brady 198 times there, Anthony...and how is that the Raiders, and only the Raiders fault?

We could make the case that if the *Patriots actually knew what Brady would turn out to be, they actually screwed too up by not taking him sooner. What if Brady had gotten away?

Let's see...Matt Leinart... projected as "The Next Tom Brady"... let's wait around till round 6 to pick him this year to show everyone how wise we are...BRILLIANT!

Let's see...the other #6 pick the *Patriots had that year (2000) was a DE named "David Nugent". How did that one work out, Anthony? Last I heard, David was seen hunting turkeys on Uncle Ted's farm...

Er...um..the Raiders didn't even have a 6th round draft pick that year (2000). So the question is, "How to even compare a non-existent draft pick with Brady's performance?"

Pull out the *Pats best pick in their history to use as an example will ya, Anthony?

How's this for selective memory: in 1987, the Raiders selected Vincent Jackson, RB from Auburn with the 183rd pick in the 7th round.

The *Patriots? They chose no one in the 7th round in '87. How's "No One" working out for the *Pats, Anthony?

See how that works? My late round draft pick can beat up your late round draft pick, Anthony...

When you simply pull out the best example from the complete pool (all the picks for the entire NFL) and compare it to the small sample of Raiders picks, it's not quite fair is it?

Scorpio: I can tell ya from personal experience the staff at Raidernews definitely do not agree with all the viewpoints posted on the site.

But Raidernews is designed to do just that, bring you the news about the Raiders in one site for your convenience. Raidernews does not typically editorialize the articles linked there nor "sanitize them for your protection."

Instead, you are encouraged to think for yourself and make up your own mind.

The editors of Raidernews are named Ore and Ally. They are great folks!

Ore made a suggestion on the very article I wrote referenced above, for which I am quite grateful. Ally is Raider to the marrow and one of the most positive folks I know.

Anyway, don't shoot the messenger for delivering the message. Instead, if you disagree with one of the articles linked on Raidernews, the best things to do are:

1. Send an email to the actual writer responsible for the writing the words; and

2. Comment on the writer's website at the article for public viewing. Folks frequently comment at mine, and I typically respond to everyone but the most constitutionally clueless hatemongers; and